Donald Tusk: Brexit talks should start soon

European Council President Donald Tusk told British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday that talks on U.K.’s exit from the European Union should start as soon as possible, according to an AFP report.

Speaking before heading into a meeting with May in London, Tusk said: “I’m aware that it is not easy but I still hope you will be ready to start the process as soon as possible.”

May said there are “serious issues” to discuss. She has previously said she has no plan to formally start the Brexit talks before the end of the year. After meeting with Tusk Thursday, she said the told Tusk of her desire for a “smooth” Brexit process, according to the AFP.

Tusk was in London as part of the tour around the EU capital ahead of the informal meeting of EU leaders in Bratislava September 16. May has not been invited to the gathering in the Slovak capital following Britain’s June 23 referendum vote to leave the EU.

DanTheMan

@Fat Bob
I think Maria has retired. She is now fully committed to her humanitarian duties because advising the world’s best economists was proving to be a frustrating undertaking, she is on another level and they just can’t understand her ideas.

Posted on 9/8/16 | 2:12 PM CET

CivisEuropeae

In June, the UK made a decision, now the EU just wants the UK to get on with it.
In negotiations there is absolutely no space for cavalier attitudes or sentiments but that is all I repeatedly keep reading in comments from brexiteers is: “we’ll do this, we’ll do that, we want this, we want that, and they will have to accept it”. The reality is that they don’t have to and May knows this perfectly. The UK vote led to a series of self-imposed red lines that are now impossible to reconcile with the reality of international affairs and the reality of the UK economy, the one that many people depend to make a living.
The reality is the UK will still continue to trade with the EU, the question rests in the conditions for this trading relationship.
The political cost for the EU resulting from the offer of a preferential deal to the UK will dwarf any economic costs to the EU resulting from a hard brexit. I seriously doubt that any concessions will be made concerning any of the EU four freedoms, the founding principles of EU, the vast majority of EU citizens support free movement within the EU and that comes par in par with full access to the single market, this is a red line in the EU and it has been made abundantly clear by various EU and member states officials, and the reality is that with full access to the single market comes payment into the EU budget, I expect Tusk to remind May of that.
Therefore the UK will have to go for hard brexit:
Restricted access means first of all the UK will still have to accept every single one of the directives, laws and standards that comes out of the EU, just like the USA, China have to comply if they wish to trade in the EU, because the EU has absolute discretion about the trading rules within the EU, period.
Restricted access to the single market means losing the UK banking passport which means that while London will still serve as an international financial hub probably specializing in offshore banking, the entirety of the financial market serving the European market currently based in London will move to both Paris and Frankfurt, which more than offset any decrease in EU exports to the UK and any economic loss to the EU.
Restricted access means that the UK will no longer be a point of entry for international companies wanting to do business in the EU or put it this way: any company, existing or future, will simply look at where he gets the best deal and the best market. Is it best to invest in the UK, with 65 million consumers, tariffs on imported supplies and tariffs applicable on exports from the UK into the EU, or invest within the EU, with access to more than 500 million consumers, tariffs free suppliers, qualified and affordable staff and tariffs only applicable when exporting from the EU to the UK?
Where to go then? Japan, China, USA and Canada, the most interesting markets, have warned the UK about the negative effects of Brexit on mutual relationships, Australia has just come out saying they are much more interested on a deal with the EU first, and prefer to wait until brexit negotiations are concluded, India will demand lifting of restrictions on immigration and in none of these the UK will be able to export financial services or it will only be able to do so after making some serious concessions, African nations are not a sizeable enough market to replace the single market and the question is: How long will these negotiations take, at what cost and what will be the ultimate benefits?
Trade negotiations are not bothered about platitudes and unicorns, the only thing that matters is realpolitik and economic advantages and from where I see it, the UK has much more to lose than the EU.
So the question is: Why would the EU negotiators offer any terms to the UK, if the Eurozone has actually so much to gain in the long run from a hard brexit?

Posted on 9/8/16 | 5:41 PM CET

Filippo

Brexit referendum was a non binding one, freely disposed by the british goverment. They have a political committment to their voters only, and no political nor legal committment to the EU. They will start it whenever they like, only caring it is worthful for Uk, whatever Tusk says.

Posted on 9/8/16 | 5:58 PM CET

Maria Valentina Umer

@CivisEuropea
Congratulations! You nailed it to the point! The UK has practically no bargaining chips, neither in the EU nor in their ex-Commonwealth. The latter countries have moved on to create their own niches, also embracing immigrants, and are not interested now to deal with Little England under the terms of the British Raj or the old Victorian Empire in Africa.

Posted on 9/9/16 | 5:49 PM CET

CivisEuropeae

@ Maria thank for your comment, is just how I see it, I believe most of the experts agree with this analysis and I suspect the British government does to.

Posted on 9/9/16 | 11:03 PM CET

Maria Valentina Umer

@CivisEuropeae
Your word in God´s ear that the British government agrees with this common analysis. I fear the British government is only pandering to its disgruntled voters. Such opportunistic pactices are common in many countries, as we all know. But I never thought that England would adopt them as wise. Unfortunately, the UK is in a sort of political emergency, internally and externally. And the common volk is too insecure to realize what their country´s true problems are.

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